Riding Up Front (RUF)

“Buddy, did we go to high school together?”

I met Siraj on my 2^nd trip to Denver this year, on my way to have dinner with A, a Lyft driver I had met on an earlier trip. Siraj was quite the character. He called and asked me to go upstairs to departures to meet him. When I exited the terminal, there he was, in the midst of a conversation with a traffic cop. His arm was casually hooked over the window, and I heard him asking, “Buddy, did we go to high school together?” (Mind you, the guy looked sixty and Siraj was maybe thirty-five at most.)

Later, as I would learn, this was Siraj’s technique of ensuring he wouldn’t be asked to leave the airport drop-off area. Not wanting to break up this touching reunion, I watched in bemusement from a little distance as they exchanged stories of lab and PE. Finally, the airport traffic cop/high school buddy gave Siraj his cell number and facebook info so they could keep in touch. Siraj boasted to me later, “Man, I went to high school with half of these airport guys!”

Siraj was from NYC. I should’ve known. He had just moved to Denver, and made generic statements about liking the mountains and the clean air. He did not, however, seem like a “nature” type, since he didn’t like any of the outdoor activities enjoyed by nature-lovers in Colorado. However, he did wave vaguely at the mountains and proclaim that yes, “Some people like to hike.”

We kept on talking, and he found out I worked in aviation, and that I was also a pilot and flight instructor. BAM. Instant connection. It had been Siraj’s dream his entire life to become a pilot, but his family had told him since he was a kid that it was impossible, and that the “white guys wouldn’t let him fly.” I told him, “You need to try, dude.” And he responded, “Right??? I mean, if you can do it, why not me?” Boy, that made me feel good. Clearly if I could do it, obviously, Siraj could!

We had a LONG ride. There was a ton of traffic because of the Broncos’ first game of the season. To pass the time, I did a mini flight lesson on stalls and spin awareness, as well as explained (probably unsuccessfully) the left-turning tendencies of airplanes. Siraj seemed fascinated by what I was saying, and looked interested and alert, which scared me a little since that was not his driving face.

We looked up local airports. Or rather, I prevented him from trying to google airports while driving, and did it for him. There was a small General Aviation airport right by his house, and I told him he should at least go check it out for a discovery flight. He asked to contact me, and added me on Facebook, saying he would be my new best friend because he had so many questions about flying. I have yet to hear from him, but I really hope he’s taken his discovery flight.

And who knows? Maybe he’s found new long-lost high school buddies…